The German Government is dismayed by the Israeli Government’s decision to declare hundreds of hectares of land near Jericho in the Palestinian territories to be state lands. This is the largest such move in eighteen months. It is to be feared that this step will pave the way for an expansion of Israeli settlements. This is contrary to the spirit of the two-state solution and to the public pronouncements made by the Israeli Prime Minister.

The German Government’s standpoint on this is well known. Settlement activities in the occupied territories violate international law. Settlements are a further obstacle to the peace process and undermine the basis of the two-state solution.

At the EU Council meeting on Monday, EU Foreign Ministers unanimously condemned the indiscriminate terror attacks on civilians during the past months and called on political leaders on both sides to take joint steps to calm the tensions.